AlphaGamma team was invited to attend the ISFiT 2015 (International Student Festival in Trondheim) festival in Norway, devoted to one of the toughest challenges that the global economy is facing – corruption. This is the 15th edition of the event, which gathered 480 participants with diverse academic and business backgrounds from more than 100 countries in the 4th largest city of Norway.
This year, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama was the keynote speaker of the event, representing the attitude and spirit necessary to battle corruption and make a positive impact in the world. During the 3-hour performance of the 9th most influential person in the world, pearls of wisdom were shared with the audience in abundance.
We summarized some of them, which are applicable to becoming a better person and to developing personal traits, necessary to succeed in business.
1. Education is everything
To create a successful future, you need to be constantly learning about the environment you are in, about its past and people, who are surrounding you regularly. Self-reflection and self-awareness are integral parts of education.
“Corruption comes from anger, hate and greed. By educating ourselves we can change our mind, take control over our emotions, and contribute to the greater good.” The religious leader believes that use of knowledge about emotions has the potential to make the world significantly better.
2. Change starts from a single decision
“Do not worry about the past – it is gone. The future has not yet come. We need to think only in the present moment.” To think in the present, it is important to decide first that you want to change. Then decide what impact you want to achieve. Then work for it. Does not matter how big it is, make this leap of faith and keep on working on making it happen.
3. Persist to succeed
There is no single formula on how to reach success, regardless of how success is defined. As the religious leader suggests, trust your guts. Your instincts will tell you where to go, you just need to start listening to yourself. Once you feel right, then
Do not get discouraged if things don’t go immediately as they were planned. “You might need to try once, twice, ten times or even more. Keep on knocking at doors. The right one for you will definitely open. Be persistent.”
Just like with the business and any other areas of life, lifelong learning is a requirement to attain mastery in what you enjoy doing. Education – be it formal or informal – helps with obtaining knowledge and staying ahead of the competition.
Last but least, constant reflection on what you have done and what you have achieved up till now should become a habit for all the future leaders. “My generation will not see this change, but you have all the potential to make a difference”, His Holiness concluded.
